Cardinals Defense Works to Justify Surprising Super Bowl Appearance

TEMPE, Ariz. -- They held in their hands packets of Super Bowl tickets, items that, in this part of the world, were once as foreign as gems from the Lost Dutchman's gold mine.

"Today is the first day it kind of sets in. I've never even seen a Super Bowl ticket, and now here I am holding 15 of them. So it's pretty amazing," Arizona Cardinals center Lyle Sendlein said Saturday, after one final practice before the team departs for Tampa Monday and a date with Pittsburgh in Super Bowl Bowl XLIII on Feb. 1.

The gadget plays have been refined, Todd Haley and Anquan Boldin have engaged in a few man-hugs and Kurt Warner has offered sage advice to all the Super Bowl newbies ("Google Eugene Robinson," Warner has probably said). Sunday is a day to rest, recharge and roll down the roof on the convertible and scream, "We're going to the Super Bowl." Then comes the real work: defending their honor.

Most of the Cardinals haven't a clue about the force that's about to hit them when they land in Florida. The Arizona defense, especially, ought to be ready to snap out explanations and theories about how it is they belong here despite, to put it kindly, a season swimming in mediocrity. The media's interrogations will make Senate confirmation hearings seem like a tea party, and it's the Cardinals' own fault for giving the media such a juicy piece of meat on which to gnaw.

That 40-point loss to New England back in December? Expect the Cardinals to be grilled about it until their heads start to spin. Did they intentionally quit? Did they really think just because they had already clinched a playoff berth, it was reason to not care? Is it true half the Cardinals had never seen snow? (Stupid question, but stupid questions are as plentifully as strippers during Super Bowl week).

It's a testament to Ken Whisenhunt that he didn't give half his defense the Edgerrin James treatment the following week. The coach did threaten to bench players if they didn't practice well, and later said "somewhere in that week we found ourselves." An Arizona team that yielded 514 yards to the Patriots hasn't lost since, and in the playoffs shut down Atlanta and Carolina -- the league's No. 2 and No. 3 rushing teams -- with disciplined, turnover-inducing play.

Nonetheless, Whisenhunt shouldn't be shocked that the national media still has doubts about the Cardinals' ability to hold opponents to low double digits. Arizona has given up the most points of any team ever to make a Super Bowl. The Cardinals set a record for most points scored in the regular season, their grand total of 427 points exactly one more point than the defense allowed.

It's a wonder Nancy Grace isn't doing a week's worth of specials on the Cardinals' mercurial defense.

"I tell you what; it has been tough because every time you turn on the TV or read something, it wasn't very good." Whisenhunt said. "That kept you from not reading it or not paying attention to it. There wasn't anything in particular. You didn't have to look hard to find something that would motivate us."


The Cardinals defense during the regular season hardly inspired Super Bowl cred: Arizona finished 28th in points allowed and, despite creating a respectable amount of turnovers and having above-average speed, was too often manhandled and outcoached. Now the Cardinals are facing a quarterback who is playing in his second Super Bowl in five years. Ben Roethlisberger is cool and efficient, a perfect balance to a Steelers defense that is better even than the one that led Pittsburgh to nirvana a few years ago.

Roethlisberger is bigger and more mobile than Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, who was sacked twice by the Cardinals in the NFC title game. If the Arizona defense can limit Pittsburgh's running game and keep Roethlisberger from scampering out of the pocket and finding an open receiver, the Cardinals offense won't have to be one-dimensional and throw on every down. The Cardinals' constant defensive pressure, their ability to come at Roethlisberger from different angles while remaining disciplined, will determine whether Arizona returns to the desert with its first Super Bowl championship.

"We have to be physical. We have to be physical at the point of attack. That is their [Pittsburgh's] mindset, so you have to have the same kind of mindset," said linebacker Karlos Dansby. "You have to fly around, be disciplined. They wait on you to make mistakes. We have to be solid all the way around."

The Cardinals defense has never been shy about doing back flips in the end zone, or flexing like bodybuilders after making a simple tackle, or yapping up a storm. Much of their antics seem ludicrous, considering.

They win in Tampa and all is forgiven